LONDON, March 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --



Europe's largest CSR and Sustainability summit returns for the 12th year and attendees from the business world will get the chance to share best practice, discuss the latest sustainability challenges and build key relationships.

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What's more, organiser Ethical Corporation, which provides business intelligence on sustainability to more than 3,000 multinational companies every year, has said that Chatham House rules will be lifted for London's two-day Responsible Business Summit, on 7^th to 8^th May 2013.

Featuring speakers from large companies including Bupa's Chief Executive Stuart Fletcher, John Sauven, Executive Director of Greenpeace UK, and Jane Griffiths, Company Group Chairman of Janssen EMEA, the summit will address many issues surrounding sustainable business, such as meeting key social responsibility demands and easing environmental strain on the planet.

The event will consist of more than 20 breakout sessions focusing on the toughest CSR topics such as supply chain engagement; implementation of the Ruggie principles for human rights; public/private partnerships; and how to engage frontline employees on CSR.

Andrew Cave, Group Head of Sustainability at Royal Bank of Scotland, Christian Leitz, Head of Corporate Responsibility Management at UBS AG, and Antti Savilaakso, Director of Responsible Investment & Governance at Nordea, will be looking at the restoration of trust and how the financial sector can reconnect with the people they serve.

Bupa's Chief Executive Stuart Fletcher, Michael Cole-Fontayn, Chairman EMEA and CEO, Depositary Receipts, at BNY Mellon, and Ronan Dunne, Chief Executive Officer of Telefonica UK (O2), will consider how companies will build trust in 2020.

Additional breakout sessions will feature Belinda Scott, Head of CSR at National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Claire Dixon, Vice President Global Corporate Responsibility at GlaxoSmithKline, and HP's Paul Ellingstad, Director, Sustainability & Social Innovation, considering the emerging markets and new models for investment using social innovation.

Rt Hon Gregory Barker, Minister of State for Climate Change, will deliver the introductory keynote address on Public Private Partnerships: how to mobilise investment in green technology.

The summit will be the meeting place for 500+ senior attendees and 50+ expert speakers from across the world.

Speakers from corporations such as M&S, Microsoft, Unilever, BASF, Dow, Dupont, Rio Tinto, ASDA, Patagonia and Hyundai, will join NGOs like Oxfam, Ethical Trading Initiative, EABIS, Cranfield School of Management, European Commission and Institute of Human Rights and Business.

Toby Webb, founder of Ethical Corporation, said: "Rather than the usual stale PowerPoint presentations, we'll be using scenarios to generate discussion and debate with our speakers. There'll be Twitter feeds, use of live polling, 'Question Time'-style debates and issue-based roundtables.

"This year's speakers include heads of CSR from leading companies based in the UAE, Jordan, Hong Kong and more in order to get true a truly global perspective.

"What's more, the press will be welcome to join attendees in small groups in order to make this Responsible Business Summit more relevant and challenging than ever before."

For more details about the event, visit http://events.ethicalcorp.com/rbs/index.php.

About Ethical Corporation

Ethical Corporation has provided business intelligence for sustainability since 2001 and its conferences are widely recognised as the best in the field. It provides objective analysis for big businesses, NGOs, think-tanks, academia, governments and service providers to the corporate sustainability industry. Ethical Corporation is 100% focused on global ethical business and how large companies are responding to the sustainable business agenda.

Its flagship conference is the Responsible Business Summit, which takes place during the first week of May each year in London. In the past three years the summit has expanded to New York, and will take place in Asia for the first time this year.

For further information and to attend the event contact Nicola Collenette: nicola.collenette@consciouscomms.com or Zoe Scorer: zoe.scorer@consciouscomms.com both on +44(0)1223-393-812.

SOURCE Ethical Corporation